This was one of the main conclusions drawn from the session “O ciclo do mercado imobiliário e a oportunidade do arrendamento” (The real estate market cycle and rental opportunities), part of the I Conferência da Promoção Imobiliária em Portugal (First Conference on Real Estate Development in Portugal), organised by APPII and VI, which took place online this Tuesday.
Nuno Nunes, Senior Director of Capital Markets at CBRE, remarked that the housing segment has «gone through this crisis relatively unscathed. We continue to see, in some European countries, investment volumes higher than pre-Covid levels. We have invested much in this segment, motivated by the pressure from investors», he said. And many of them are interested in investing in “build to rent” for the first time. «All the conditions are gathered for this market to flourish in Portugal», in terms of demand, demography and costs.
Ricardo Guimarães, director at Ci, highlighted that the pandemic did not generate a «price hecatomb», as would have been expected. «Slight breaks show the prices’ stability», and he noted that «the variable with which the market adjusted itself was the number of transactions». The scenario is different for the rental market, where rents dropped -9% during the second quarter.
Ricardo Sousa, Century 21’s CEO, also stated that, for his company, the number of transactions only dropped 2% in the month of August, but the average price increased 8%. He remarked that there is more sustainable financing available. And he also believes that there is an opportunity in the market for «build to rent solutions».